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Im just wondering what everyones take on this is.....I shelled out close to $50,000 for my new laramie and I love it. This is my first dodge truck, I've owned two fords and a chevy in the past, all were used and all had issues and needed repairs other than maintenance.

Back in 2006 my wife and I bought a 2006 chrysler town & country van with only a few thousand miles on it. Since then we have put over 100k on that van with absolutely no problems at all. I've changed tires, brake pads, fluids and filters and thats it, we love this van, its been the best vehicle we've ever owned..... So when I was ready for a new truck I looked at dodge. In the couple weeks I've owned my truck I've only put 400 miles on it.

I have the same paint issues that alot of others do, my finish looks blotchy in certain light and there are several dust particles in the paint. I haven't told anyone and they would never know otherwise but it got me thinking, if they let $40k plus vehicles out of the factory with paint that bad on a regular basis, how bad is their quality control during the entire assembly process???

Good lord, use the search feature. This horse has been beaten so much they are extinct. EVERY MANUFACTURER HAS BAD PAINT. Told this following story 5000 times on this forum for the same exact "OMG I PAYED 'x amount' for my truck, but looked it over in the middle of the night while under shelter from rain in a cave" posts...

Down the street from me is a 2 year old single cab GMC. Has nearly 9k miles on it now, and the hood has become so bad from paint peeling and thin clear coat it looks like it belongs on a 15 year old honda civic with horrible heat damage. Like it had thinner and gasoline poured on it and let sit out in the 110 degree texas heat. I am a firm believer that you will not get perfect paint unless you look over the lot and make sure you find the best looking ram out there. Same with ford, government motors, toyota, nissan etc etc... My opinion is the only vehicle I have found to have perfect paint is in the 70k+ range. I have looked at brand new 2013 gt500s that buddies of mine have bought, and they have paint flaws from shipping/bad paint prep. That is a 65k dollar super muscle car. Just the way things go. You are not going to get perfect paint on something that in the end is intended to do work... Even if you didn't buy it for that.

I am sorry, but it is the way it is. I know in a perfect world paint would be perfect, we would all be married to 10 hot women, and live in 2 million dollar houses sipping on free beer for life. The way things are in the world companies can't afford to make things "flawless" they can get damn close, and I think my truck is pretty much there. They don't have time to put a "Show quality" paint job on each and every truck that rolls off the assembly line.

I guess I got lucky. I found one paint "Nib" , and one little scratch. I got a pair of running boards I didnt ask for .....so it was a fair trade off in my book. Your right for as much as we pay for a vehicle it could be better though.

Good lord, use the search feature. This horse has been beaten so much they are extinct. EVERY MANUFACTURER HAS BAD PAINT. Told this following story 5000 times on this forum for the same exact "OMG I PAYED 'x amount' for my truck, but looked it over in the middle of the night while under shelter from rain in a cave" posts...

Down the street from me is a 2 year old single cab GMC. Has nearly 9k miles on it now, and the hood has become so bad from paint peeling and thin clear coat it looks like it belongs on a 15 year old honda civic with horrible heat damage. Like it had thinner and gasoline poured on it and let sit out in the 110 degree texas heat. I am a firm believer that you will not get perfect paint unless you look over the lot and make sure you find the best looking ram out there. Same with ford, government motors, toyota, nissan etc etc... My opinion is the only vehicle I have found to have perfect paint is in the 70k+ range. I have looked at brand new 2013 gt500s that buddies of mine have bought, and they have paint flaws from shipping/bad paint prep. That is a 65k dollar super muscle car. Just the way things go. You are not going to get perfect paint on something that in the end is intended to do work... Even if you didn't buy it for that.

I am sorry, but it is the way it is. I know in a perfect world paint would be perfect, we would all be married to 10 hot women, and live in 2 million dollar houses sipping on free beer for life. The way things are in the world companies can't afford to make things "flawless" they can get damn close, and I think my truck is pretty much there. They don't have time to put a "Show quality" paint job on each and every truck that rolls off the assembly line.

GOOD LORD, QUIT TELLING PEOPLE TO USE THE SEARCH FEATURE, THAT HORSE HAS BEEN BEATEN BEYOND EXTINCTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you do a search, you will find that in every thread where someone asks a simple question, some dip shiz like you tells them to "USE THE SEARCH AND YOU'LL FIND YOUR ANSWER" For christ sake its a question/discussion forum, Im sure that every single question that could be asked and every topic that could be discussed has been done at one time or another on this site but there are always new members and new ideas and if everyone just "used the search" there would be no more conversation!!!!! Im sure I've seen your tired old story about how your neighbor had paint problems with his truck back in 1975 blah blah.... Everyone who didn't notice every little aspect of their truck before buying is an idiot, no dealer could get one past you right, because unlike idiots like me, who buy their truck at midnight, you spend 6 weeks inspecting every nut, bolt, and weld, right... Im sure you've told it to everyone before..

If you don't want to talk about it, DON'T REPLY, No one wants to hear your big chested attitude, sitting behind your computer... This topic was intended for people who are interested in discussion, not blasting other members for posting..

I am not asking if rams have bad paint, its obvious that they do, its all over the forums. Im just asking if you can stand back 5 feet and see flaws that were allowed through quality control, is there any chance there will be bigger, mechanical issues that passed QC at the factory also??

Good lord, use the search feature. This horse has been beaten so much they are extinct. EVERY MANUFACTURER HAS BAD PAINT.

BULLS...., this is the first vehicle i have owned WITH paint issues. My acura sure didn't have it, my wife's toyota doesnt have any. We need dodge to realize if you want 40k plus for a luxury truck, crappy paint is not going to cut it, so beat the dead horse often. maybe they will wake up.....

One's money and investment is important, and a level of perfection and even individuality is highly desired.
Vehicles are mass produced like many other things, and so none are really going to hit a point of perfection, but fall within a range of specification of acceptance.
That level is not always as high as some would like, but it is what it is.

Gotta say at the end of the day for me, as much as I want to dote on my R/T, it is a pick-up truck. A mass produced, manufactured, utility vehicle. The cost that went into it is for two tons of materials and technology, amazing engineering of thousands of components, devices, features, etc; not show-finish paint and appearance.

And in a lot of ways I'm pretty glad since I park in the driveway. And I actually go for a week or two between washes (I know, right?!). And I even haul things. Like (gasp) heavy dirty things. It happens. I drive on public roads as well. A pristine paint job would last about a day on most roads in America (at least the ones I have traversed). Heck, my wife had her VW for 1 week before the windshield got cracked by road debris. It happens. I lost the fender off my last truck from a flying retread in traffic.

Could the paint be better? Sure. So could the computer controls, and the fit and finish on the interior in spots (my personal console pinches the dash and there is a rattle in there somewhere), and a laundry list of other things. Is it within spec? Well, yes. Blemishes in the paint really do not effect the purpose and function of the vehicle, what it was designed to do, what it was advertised to do, and what I use it for. And considering the long list of things this truck can do, and do really really well, it boggles my mind compared to the vehicles I've had in the past.

Will I obsess on things? Sure. Might even fix some of them. But am I gonna bust the manufacturer's balls over it? Paint quality on a pickup truck? Naw.

@ nickxc - Don't feel bad about someone giving you a blast of attitude on this forum. Unfortunately there are some out there who drink a little too much of the Dodge kool aid. Heaven forbid if you should mention something negative about a Dodge product.

@ nickxc - Don't feel bad about someone giving you a blast of attitude on this forum. Unfortunately there are some out there who drink a little too much of the Dodge kool aid. Heaven forbid if you should mention something negative about a Dodge product.

If you have a problem or a concern post away!

Thanks Rocky.... I didn't mean to get fired up but it seams like every time someone posts a question that is remotely like something that has been discussed before there is another member jumping down their throat and screaming "use the search feature!!!" Its a discussion forum, people will re-hash old topics...

Anyway my main line of thinking was: if they let this vehicle roll out of the factory with a sticker price of $46110.00 plus fees, tax, title, license, etc.... and paint that is this poor, and its reported that its happening often, then what else is passing through their Quality Control department un-noticed. Should I be concerned about the alignment of shafts and the quality of welds that are out of sight, if something that is that plainly in sight was allowed to pass, not just on a few trucks, but on many???

Maybe there is nothing to worry about.. Maybe the rest of the truck is solid as a rock with a slightly poor paint job, and thats what I hope.....

It is pretty sad that Orange Peel is so common it's pretty much totally acceptable these days.

I've never had a vehicle with the little 'dust bumps' that my Ram has. I guess Im lucky, I only found 3 of them while doing clay bar on my truck. I had never noticed anything prior to that so Im just going to forget them. but the Orange peel has been an issue for years and nobody seems to think it's a big deal. If I had a black vehicle, it would drive me insane